A new class of companies is emerging. Known as Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), these firms are reshaping both equity and crypto markets by making digital asset accumulation their core business function.

Pioneered by MicroStrategy in 2020 under the leadership of Michael Saylor, the strategy has gained momentum across hundreds of public companies globally. Ethereum-based treasuries alone now hold nearly $15 billion in ETH, marking the rise of a new economic force: onchain corporate finance.

But DATs are no longer just passive holders of crypto. They are evolving into active capital allocators—entities that generate yield, bootstrap ecosystems, and increasingly shape the very protocols they operate on.

From Store-of-Value to Yield-Generating Powerhouse

➬🔹 The modern treasury playbook is driven by productivity: every digital asset—ETH, wBTC, RWAs, even memecoins—can be made productive in DeFi.

Traditional DATs often rely on PIPE financing (Private Investment in Public Equity), issuing new shares to buy more assets. While effective early on, this model becomes unsustainable at scale due to dilution limits and shareholder fatigue.

➬🔹 DeFi flips this model—enabling non-dilutive growth by putting assets to work in onchain capital markets.

Protocols like Ether.fi offer yields of 6%+ APY on ETH, AAVE offers ~4% on wETH lending, and other strategies push even higher returns. The challenge isn’t yield availability—it’s efficient access and risk management.

DATs as Ecosystem Kingmakers

A rising trend among DATs is partnering with rollups to bootstrap entire DeFi ecosystems. Instead of chasing fragmented yield across chains, these treasuries create their own economic engines.

➬🔹 Case study: SharpLink and Linea

A DAT injects large capital (TVL) into a new rollup. This liquidity lowers borrowing rates, attracting traders and yield farmers. As user activity grows, so does revenue for the rollup and associated protocols.

➬🔹 The DAT wins too—often receiving preferential treatment, early protocol incentives, and governance power.

This strategy positions the treasury not as a mere participant, but as a foundational force in new ecosystems. It becomes both market maker and market shaper.

The Challenge of Fragmented Yield

While bootstrapping ecosystems has benefits, many DATs seek maximum risk-adjusted yield—a strategy requiring access to multiple chains.

That’s where Caldera’s Metalayer comes in.

The Metalayer: A Treasury’s Interoperability Engine

Caldera’s Metalayer is an intent-based interoperability protocol that connects dozens of blockchains into a unified capital market. It allows DATs to:

➬🔹 Establish a home base on a custom Caldera rollup (e.g.,

→ Kinto for KYC-gated RWAs

→ Manta Pacific for deep liquidity

→ or Ethereum Mainnet / major L2s like Arbitrum and Base)

➬🔹 Move capital instantly across chains to capture fleeting opportunities, such as a high-yield pool or arbitrage setup.

➬🔹 Access a growing number of chains—including recent integrations with BNB Chain and Base, with many more to come.

➬🔹 Think like a macro fund: allocate assets dynamically to where they’re most productive, all through an intent-based, secure interface.

With this, the Metalayer becomes the liquidity router for onchain capital markets—turning a fragmented multichain landscape into a single, composable ecosystem.

Building the Future of Onchain Capital Markets

The relationship between Digital Asset Treasuries and rollups is no longer just symbiotic—it’s transformative.

➬🔹 As real-world assets (RWAs) like real estate, private credit, and bonds become tokenized, any asset can be used as collateral in DeFi.

➬🔹 DATs will soon resemble onchain sovereign wealth funds moving capital globally, seeking yield, and shaping entire ecosystems.

But to succeed in this new paradigm, they need flexible, secure, and interoperable infrastructure.

That’s what Caldera provides.

Caldera: Infrastructure for the Internet of Rollups

Caldera’s architecture includes:

~ The Rollup Engine a modular system to launch performant, custom chains on Arbitrum, Optimism, ZKsync, Base, and more.

~ The Metalayer connects all chains into one network with secure, shared liquidity and intent-based bridging.

~ Caldera Bridge Preview expands the product suite to streamline interoperability across the ecosystem.

➬🔹 Caldera is powering the Internet of Rollups, a future where any asset, chain, and opportunity is just one intent away.

Caldera by the Numbers

💰 $1B+ Total Value Locked

🔄 550M+ Transactions Processed

👛 17M+ Unique Wallets

🧱 75+ Custom Caldera Chains Deployed

Ready to Move Your Treasury Onchain?

The future of corporate treasury is not passive—it’s programmable, yield-generating, and ecosystem-shaping.

➬🔹 Whether you're a public company, protocol, or institutional fund, Caldera provides the infrastructure to help your treasury access the full power of DeFi capital markets.

Visit @Caldera Official to connect with our team and explore what’s possible.